Japanese firms explore business prospects in south central region

Khanh Hoa (VNA) – The “Meeting Japan – South
Central Region” conference took place in Nha Trang city, the central province
of Khanh Hoa on October 6 to discuss bilateral cooperative prospects in the
near future.

Attending the event were representatives from ministries and
authorities of Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Quang Nam, Quang
Ngai and Binh Dinh, along with more than 250 Vietnamese and Japanese businesses.

On the Japanese side there were Ambassador Umeda Kunio and
officials from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japan
External Trade Organisation (JETRO)-Ho Chi Minh City office, the Japan
Foundation, the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) and the Japan
Business Association in Vietnam (JBAV).

Speaking at the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc
Dung said Japan is a partner of top significance to Vietnam, as the country is
the largest provider of official development assistance, the second largest
source of foreign direct investment, the third largest source of tourist
arrivals and the fourth largest trade partner of Vietnam.

Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Umeda Kunio hailed the event
as a useful activity to realise outcomes of visits by the two countries’
leaders in the context that Vietnam and Japan are actively preparing for the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Kunio said as many as 2,527 Japanese firms are doing
business in Vietnam, the third biggest number in a Southeast Asian country only
behind Thailand and Singapore. Over the past five years, Japanese tourist
arrivals in the country have soared five-fold to 740,000.

Four discussion sessions at the conference focused on
development cooperation, human resources training, locality-to-locality partnership,
cultural-tourism exchange and investment.

Participants agreed that there is great potential for
cooperation between the south central region and Japan, and local authorities
must play a crucial role to promote the partnership, especially in researching
cooperative possibilities and facilitating the attraction and implementation of
joint projects.

Representatives from JICA, JETRO and Vietnamese experts
shared experience in attracting Japanese investment, particularly in tourism,
infrastructure and energy.

Concluding the event, Dung said the Foreign Ministry is
determined to stand side by side with localities in global integration and
strengthen effective and practical linkages with important partners, including
Japan.

On the sidelines of the event, the Japanese Ambassador held
talks with leaders of seven south central localities. Vietnamese and Japanese
enterprises also took the occasion to meet for networking.-VNA